With the introduction of a new online financial planning tool for customers, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. has reached a key milestone in what it says is a “digital transformation” of the company.

The Planning Experience program, which stems in part from the company’s purchase three years ago of the online personal finance planning firm LearnVest, was made available to Northwestern Mutual financial representatives this month. Many of the reps, in turn, now are beginning to offer it to their clients.

The planning software lets clients, working with their financial rep, set comprehensive life-long and temporary financial goals — saving for retirement or paying off student debt, for instance — and develops a strategy for achieving them. It then constantly monitors the plan and lets clients know how they’re doing by producing a financial wellness score.

The online tool is realistic because it is based on a client’s budget, can make projections, and is able to adjust as circumstances and resources change, said Emily Holbrook, director of personal markets for the Milwaukee-based insurer and financial services company.

“Thousands of plans have already been delivered out into the marketplace, and we’re getting consumer feedback. It’s been really exciting to be part of,” Holbrook said. “It is a major milestone in our overall transformation.”

During his tenure as chief executive officer, John Schlifske has stressed that Northwestern Mutual isn’t just an insurer anymore, and that digital innovation is important to its future.

“Up until about 20, 30 years ago, we were strictly a life insurance company. Then in the late ‘80s we got into the investment business, and we now manage over $125 billion of our clients’ money in wealth management accounts and brokerage accounts,” Schlifske recently told a gathering of business leaders in Milwaukee. “So we’re no longer just an insurance company. We’re also competing with the Merrill Lynches of the world and the Bairds of the world to manage clients’ money.”

The new online financial planning tool is central to that effort — along with the continued use of financial reps as advisers.

“We think it’s vitally important that you have an adviser plus technology. That’s where I see us going as a company,” Schlifske said.

'Human and digital'

To get Northwestern Mutual on a faster track in the technology realm, in 2015 it purchased the online financial planning firm LearnVest and began using its people and technology to help craft the Personal Experience program for clients.

In June, Northwestern Mutual shut down LearnVest as a separate online financial tool that anyone could pay to use, making it a free site with personal finance news and advice. The new Personal Experience planning program is available only through a Northwestern Mutual financial representative.

“We knew we wanted to bring together human and digital, and that’s part of the reason why we had the acquisition of LearnVest, because they shared that same philosophy — and shared the philosophy around the importance of protection and growth,” Holbrook said.

In the life insurance business, Northwestern Mutual competes against companies that offer policies over the internet directly to consumers. Northwestern Mutual doesn’t foresee itself doing that.

“We have no plans to sell directly to consumers online. We find that consumers prefer to partner with a financial adviser when making their insurance decisions,” said Betsy Hoylman, a Northwestern Mutual spokeswoman.

The new online tool was made available to financial reps Oct. 1, and many immediately put it to use with their clients. The plan will evolve over time, Holbrook said.

The planning program focuses on three major concepts: protect, optimize and grow. Protection typically involves insurance — life, disability and long-term care. Optimization looks at things like debt reduction, paying student loans and other disciplines to build a healthier financial situation. Growth comes with saving and investing.

“It’s not a matter of us delivering a plan, going away and then hoping to check back in at some indefinite point in the future,” Holbrook said. “It’s: ‘OK, this is the plan. We’re planning, and we’ll keep planning.'”